Originally Posted by ThoriumHotdog (Post 771958)

:bowrofl::bowrofl::roflpuke2::roflpuke2:

The worst drivers I see are the texters.. I'd rather have some tweaked out meth addict or some coke snorting douche in traffic than a stupid teenybopper texting messages.

Originally Posted by theDreamer (Post 771350)

Lately I have noticed a new trend in car commercials, many luxury brands, but even some non luxury brands. The idea that they are developing new software & hardware to prevent accidents. Now I am not against the idea of technology progress or the idea of preventing accidents, but why are companies spending so much money on new technology without upgrading current tech?

Brakes:
-A good upgrade for any car and through racing and other sciences have developed some major forward steps. Pads, current pad technology is great in that we can have great bite with low dust and no noise. Calipers, bigger calipers and proper design helps in cooling and making sure your brakes perform the same time and again.

Tires:
-A optimal upgrade which OEM manufactures could easily pick up. It might sacrifice a bit in noise or tire life, but with how much sound control and noise reduction built into cars an average driver would not even notice.

Heavier is better:
-Not sure how this became such a prominent thought in the industry, but you have cars which are very light weight (sub 3500) which stop better, just as good crash ratings and have solid real world results.

The reason for some of these points is that, you reduce stopping distance, you eliminate many accidents. Both on the highway, red lights or stop signs, etc.

One of the main commercials which has set me to write this post is a Mercedes commercial. They have 4 or 5 people talking about how they were falling asleep, drifting lanes, person in front of them stopped short. Why is Mercedes having to fix a human error or not provide better stopping abilities in their cars. Instead they want to develop nanny controls which stop for you or pull you back into your lane to correct your drift.

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang (Post 771957)

I told you a while ago, Jeff, but you should be in marketing.

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI (Post 771971)

:rofl2:

And I discovered Hyundai's are totally still pieces of sh*t over my vacation as well. The lady we were staying with had a nicer '07 Hyundai Santa Fe and it was barely out of warranty and multiple sensor were failing. It had a complete transmission failure during its warranty as well. This is all on a dealer-maintained well-cared-for vehicle. On top of that, the interior was the worse combination of fake wood grain plus painted silver pieces that I've ever seen :icon14:

GG Hyundai! :ugh2:

*Cue somebody coming in to argue devil's advocate for Hyundai...* :wtf2:

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI (Post 771981)

I'd rather have any of the above than ANY teenager driving on the same roads as I. I haven't been exposed to how poorly this age group drives until recently, but it's just horrendous. I have no idea why they let some people drive to begin with. It ought to be an even more exclusive "privilege."

Originally Posted by vipor (Post 771765)

I hate the whole heavier thing. They make cars small and light when gas went up a while ago and now that they get better mpg (20+) they just start making them huge again. One of the major downfalls of the Z34 is it's weight.

Z31 - 2900-3000lbs
Z32 (2 seater) - 3200lbs
Z33 - 3200-3600lbs
Z34 - 3250lbs

The 240Z was only 2355lbs lol.

My 240SX at ~2700lbs felt very quick with it's mere 155fwhp

Originally Posted by Jeffblue (Post 771995)

haha, unfortunately i hated marketing in college. i don't know if its the way the teachers taught or what, but it just always seemed like such ethereal bs. marketing concepts are like breathing
'speak directly to the consumer, show you understand, offer a solution to their problem.'

Originally Posted by 370Zsteve (Post 772001)

What you don't mention is that much of the added weight is due to Government-mandated safety features. Without the mandated features, the Z34 would have come in much lighter than the Z33!

Originally Posted by 370Zsteve (Post 771994)

Well, the Mercedes commercial is for a car that has: great brakes, excellent tires, etc. One of the things you mentioned is people falling asleep...the nanny senses your head drooping and sounds a warning chime, not something you're likely to see on a cheap car. I haven't seen a commercial yet for a cheap car that touts things like performance tires and brakes..it's all about skinny tires with less rolling resistance for fuel economy.

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI (Post 772008)

People who buy C class Benzes are delusional. They're utter pieces of crap, from a performance and handling perspective. And the above is on the SPORT Sedan. Even for the C350 - a $40k base price car - the rotors are just larger in diameter up front with the same crappy 1-piston floating calipers and sh*tty tire package. That's pathetic.

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI (Post 772008)

Great brakes? Excellent tires? I would like to believe that, but I had to go look for myself.

From a C300 SPORT Sedan:



Single piston floating calipers, small rotors, presumably crappy brake pads to reduce noise.


Nothing about an all-season tire coming from an OEM says "performance."

People who buy C class Benzes are delusional. They're utter pieces of crap, from a performance and handling perspective. And the above is on the SPORT Sedan. Even for the C350 - a $40k base price car - the rotors are just larger in diameter up front with the same crappy 1-piston floating calipers and sh*tty tire package. That's pathetic.

Originally Posted by shadoquad (Post 772012)

Ah, but C class is the entry class Benz, which means "I'm paying for the badge alone."

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang (Post 772002)

The best marketing minds don't go to school for marketing!

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang (Post 772002)

The best marketing minds don't go to school for marketing!

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang (Post 772002)

The best marketing minds don't go to school for marketing!

Originally Posted by 370Zsteve (Post 772023)

And the best marketing minds didn't become marketing professors either :icon17:

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI (Post 772008)

Great brakes? Excellent tires? I would like to believe that, but I had to go look for myself.

From a C300 SPORT Sedan:



Single piston floating calipers, small rotors, presumably crappy brake pads to reduce noise.


Nothing about an all-season tire coming from an OEM says "performance."

People who buy C class Benzes are delusional. They're utter pieces of crap, from a performance and handling perspective. And the above is on the SPORT Sedan. Even for the C350 - a $40k base price car - the rotors are just larger in diameter up front with the same crappy 1-piston floating calipers and sh*tty tire package. That's pathetic.